Pamir Highway: Osh to Dushanbe vs Dushanbe to Osh

[KevinCanadian]

Hello!

For the folks who have done this stretch, what are your thoughts as to the preferred direction?

Also, I'm wondering which route has a better chance of finding fellow travelers to share a 4x4 with. Osh seems to be a hub for independent travelers.

[savannahgator]

Wondering the same thing, in Bishkek now but have to go to Almaty to get our visas. There is a cheap flight to Dushanbe so we may do that and do the Dushanbe-Osh route.

What is your time frame? We are two and we'd love to meet and travel/share 4x4 costs with others.

[bwv812]

It does seem like most people start in Osh, which is a bit weird since most people are also traveling west to east. Maybe it just seems that way because Osh is a better center from which to organize things than Murghab or Khorog? And/or maybe because vehicles hired from Osh are cheaper (since fuel is significantly cheaper in Kyrgyzstan)? You would think this Osh-Murghab/Khorog traffic would mean cheap rides back to Osh from Tajikistan, but that doesn't seem to happen (I'm guessing META/PECTA/travel agencies/taxi cartels don't exactly want to funnel business to Kyrgyz drivers trying to get back home, and the drivers are content to pick up what local traffic since they can since they usually charge tourists for at least a percentage of the return trip).

Anyway, I think it's probably cheaper and easier to start in Osh, especially if you're heading west to Uzbekistan afterwards, as you can head north from Dushanbe and see the Fann Mountains and Khojand before entering Uzbekistan. The Bishkek-Osh stretch of the M-41 is nice if you haven't done it before (but if you have already been to Osh, then flying from Almaty to Dushanbe and entering Uzbekistan through Osh also makes sense). There are very cheap flights from Bishkek to Osh, too.

[KevinCanadian]

Thanks for the insight! I'm flying in to Tashkent so for me I can either go to Osh first or hope for Dushanbe. And if I'm in Osh waiting to arrange for transport I can always use the extra time to see Arslanbob.